Food-borne illnesses and hospital-acquired infections resulting from microorganism contamination are a concern in numerous locations all over the world. Thus, it is often desirable or necessary to assay for the presence of bacteria or other microorganisms in various clinical, food, environmental, or other samples, in order to determine the identity and/or the quantity of the microorganisms present.
Bacterial DNA or bacterial RNA, for example, can be assayed to assess the presence or absence of a particular bacterial species even in the presence of other bacterial species. The ability to detect the presence of a particular bacterium, however, depends, at least in part, on the concentration of the bacterium in the sample being analyzed. Bacterial samples can be plated or cultured to increase the numbers of the bacteria in the sample to ensure an adequate level for detection, but the culturing step often requires substantial time and therefore can significantly delay the assessment results.
Concentration of the bacteria in the sample can shorten the culturing time or even eliminate the need for a culturing step. Thus, methods have been developed to isolate (and thereby concentrate) particular bacterial strains by using antibodies specific to the strain (for example, in the form of antibody-coated magnetic or non-magnetic particles). Such methods, however, have tended to be expensive and still somewhat slower than desired for at least some diagnostic applications.
Concentration methods that are not strain-specific have also been used (for example, to obtain a more general assessment of the microorganisms present in a sample). After concentration of a mixed population of microorganisms, the presence of particular strains can be determined, if desired, by using strain-specific probes.
Non-specific concentration or capture of microorganisms has been achieved through methods based upon carbohydrate and lectin protein interactions. Chitosan-coated supports have been used as non-specific capture devices, and substances (for example, carbohydrates, vitamins, iron-chelating compounds, and siderophores) that serve as nutrients for microorganisms have also been described as being useful as ligands to provide non-specific capture of microorganisms.
Various inorganic materials (for example, hydroxyapatite and metal hydroxides) have been used to non-specifically bind and concentrate bacteria. Physical concentration methods (for example, filtration, chromatography, centrifugation, and gravitational settling) have also been utilized for non-specific capture, with and/or without the use of inorganic binding agents. Such non-specific concentration methods have varied in speed, cost (at least some requiring expensive equipment, materials, and/or trained technicians), sample requirements (for example, sample nature and/or volume limitations), space requirements, ease of use (at least some requiring complicated multi-step processes), suitability for on-site use, and/or effectiveness.
At least some of the non-specific concentration methods (for example, at least some of the methods utilizing inorganic binding agents) have involved the use of cation-containing adsorption buffers as additives to enhance microorganism binding. Such buffers have typically been used in liquid form (for example, in the form of aqueous salt solutions). Since on-site use of such buffers requires either the transport and handling of sterile liquids or on-site reconstitution of the buffers from dry salts under sterile conditions, the suitability of the adsorption buffers for on-site use has been somewhat limited.